Synergy Dynamics
by Anhai
Summary: G1. Constructors. Excavator fails to check in.
1. A Big Shadow

Hi! This is going to be - potentially - a series of short fics following some timeline centered on a Micromaster team, the Constructors. Enjoy.

Summary: _Excavator fails to check in.  
_

_"Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow" - Proverb_

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* * *

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Knockout had been left back at the bunker for obvious reasons, and Grit had stayed with him, knowing better than even the other Constructors his partner's penchant for losing consciousness at the absolute worst moments. They were the only ones, however, since Hammer had a duty to look after his mechs, and with Hammer out in that storm Sledge wouldn't have stayed behind even if under direct orders from Megatron himself, and Stonecruncher…well, there was just no reasoning with Stonecruncher some days. The only one who stood a chance at it was the reason they were all in this mess anyway.

So Grit stayed behind with Knockout, just in case Excavator turned up while everyone else was out gallivanting around looking for him. It wouldn't be a surprise if he did, was Grit's rather sour opinion. Leave it to Excavator to stir everyone into a frenzy right over his head and never even realize it. He'd probably walk right through those doors any klick now with a pile of the best rocks in his arms, asking Grit where everyone was in that soft way of his. It was slagging embarrassing behavior for a Decepticon, since Excavator hadn't ever figured out how to be quietly menacing instead of just quiet. If it weren't for him being a Constructor and having Stonecruncher as a partner, Grit was certain Excavator would have been dead by now. Too quiet, too soft, too eager, too oblivious, too small, and too much of every-fragging-thing he shouldn't be.

He was, in other words, nothing more than living, walking, talking scrap metal in the optics of most Decepticons. Useful, sure, but since when did that save anyone? Especially when they were Micromasters. Especially when they could be even more useful as spare parts. Or target practice. No better than slag.

_Slag. _

Grit scraped viciously at his tools with a spare cleaning cloth, a growl caught in his vocalizer. Knockout shifted quietly beside him, nervously twisting a clump of metal wire into something interesting-looking and ultimately useless. He'd prattled on for awhile, about how Excavator was sure to be fine and the others would be back soon. His favorite topic had been how the constant electrical storm that this pit-forsaken planet was privy to wasn't even that bad today, so he bet no one would even need burn-repairs. But then he'd gone quiet, because even _Knockout_ was Decepticon enough to know how bad this whole situation looked and Decepticon enough to know when to shut up, because all the optimism in the universe wasn't going to change that.

Bad enough that Hammer probably wouldn't even punish Stonecruncher too badly for the damage he'd done to his work station when he'd found out Excavator had never checked in. He probably wouldn't punish him at all, even if someone ended up dead during this little search, as long as that someone wouldn't be missed too much and the evidence wasn't particularly obvious.

Bad enough that Sledge had left Grit a message a little while ago – text, so Knockout couldn't overhear and get excited in all the wrong ways – that he'd found Excavator's site. And nothing else.

_"Don't get your hopes up_," he'd said without saying. And, more importantly, "_Don't tell Stonecruncher_."

Grit roughly pieced the tool in his hands – a scanner, he realized now – back to together and reached for another random item that was probably already clean but he didn't care. _Don't tell Stonecruncher_, because Stonecruncher, the little glitch, was likely to do something rash and stupid and suicidal if he had anymore reason to worry than he already did. It was a miracle nothing had happened so far, because pit knew Stonecruncher didn't have a single bit of sense in that head of his.

Knockout handed him a new cloth, muttering something about how the others would probably be back any minute now so he was going to try and clear a space on Excavator's table for whatever new materials he'd found, since he probably didn't have any room anymore. Grit grunted his acknowledgement but didn't look up, attacking the shining wrench with the vengeance.

Weak little _slagger_.

He had better walk through that door soon.


	2. A Skill

"_I think paranoia can be instructive in the right doses. Paranoia is a skill._"

-John Shirley

* * *

"_No_, Stonecruncher, I _haven't_ found him yet, because if I _had_ found him then_ I_ would be the one calling _you_ and _not_ the other way around-"

Hammer pressed a dirty hand to his audio out of habit as he simultaneously berated Stonecruncher and picked his way up the side of a very steep hill. The hand not occupied with his comm was dug into the near-vertical slope while his feet slipped on the moist and strangely loose ground he'd quickly grown tired of. Sledge was behind and beside him, something Hammer only knew in the dark because his partner had come dangerously close to grabbing onto him twice already in an attempt to prevent two potentially disastrous falls, and Hammer had needed to elbow him in the face for the last attempt when Sledge had brushed a hand against his back.

Not very hard, though. Sledge was just trying to help, after all.

It took another aggravating few klicks to convince Stonecruncher to cut the connection before Hammer was free to use _both_ of his hands, which he did with a weary venting of his fans as he went back to focusing on the climb. It would be easier if he were in a position where he could simply ignore Stonecruncher, but with the situation at hand, that would probably only do more harm than good. For everyone. At least this way Stonecruncher could vent at someone who wouldn't rip his head off his shoulders.

"How close is he to snapping?" Sledge rumbled. He'd backed off a little ways when Hammer had struck out at him, but very little ever truly fazed Sledge and so he remained stubbornly within arm's reach. It was something Hammer had learned to deal with.

"Close," Hammer said, ducking his head instinctively to avoid falling dirt that threatened to distort his vision even more than the constantly flashing electrical lights already had. "Which is why I told you to go with _him_."

Sledge made a low noise that could only be described as somehow _sarcastic_, but his reply was even and direct as always, if a little strained from the climb. "Are you going to get yourself back inside if I go after him?"

"No."

"So you know why I didn't listen to you."

It was an argument they'd had several times already, ever since Sledge had refused Hammer's direct order to meet up with Stonecruncher when the other Constructor had abandoned his worksite, and Hammer didn't bother continuing it as he finally crested the hill. Almost immediately his armor started stinging like he was standing in acid rain, a byproduct of the buzzing electricity in the air, and Hammer rubbed idly at one forearm as he hauled himself onto relatively flat ground and straightened unsteadily, walking a few paces to take stock of the area. Only once he'd ascertained that there was no one else nearby did he turn to face Sledge, who had managed to haul himself onto the hill without help and was awkwardly pulling himself to his feet.

"This is where Excavator was supposed to be working," Hammer said, flatly.

Sledge scanned the area, systems venting hard, and his mouth twisted in an understanding grimace. There was nothing up here that indicated their teammate had ever been. "We should see if we can find his supplies," Sledge said doubtfully, because they both knew how Excavator worked and if they couldn't see a site even in this darkness then that meant – more likely than not - that there wasn't a site to be found. "It's too hard to tell if there's anything scattered around with this pit-damned electricity messing with our optics."

Which meant, Hammer deciphered, that he was looking for the more subtle signs of a fight and didn't want to say it.

"Let Grit know what we've found," Hammer said in acknowledgment, grateful for the cover of his visor and mask, and waved a hand to where Sledge should start searching while he turned to head for the opposite edge. Then he stopped. He stopped, because he suddenly had a very sobering, very strange thought that might have been a little more paranoid than Hammer usually allowed himself to be, and he turned to look at Sledge over his shoulder, tracking him by his optic glow. "And," he said slowly, "tell him that if Stonecruncher contacts him before me, he's under orders to head back to the bunker and remain there until given further instruction. No arguments."

That last bit brought Sledge to something of a halt, and Hammer didn't need light and clear facial expressions to know his partner was looking at him like he was waiting for further explanation. When none was forthcoming, and Hammer turned with obvious intentions to return to his search, Sledge made a noise that was too heavy for a scowl. "I thought you were either gonna let him run himself down or wait until he found Excavator. You said yourself he has the best chance of all of us to do it."

Hammer picked his way carefully to the edge and peered down it before answering, ignoring the knowledge that this kind of behavior would make Sledge even more uneasy that he already was. "I know."

Sledge didn't answer for a few seconds. "So you really think-"

"I think," Hammer interrupted, kneeling down and transforming one hand into a highbeam emergency light in an attempt to offset the dark and the flashes as he checked for slip marks, "that if Excavator was fine for the first four check-ins but his site was apparently never actually set up – or is not set up any _longer_, which means it was taken _down_ even though there's absolutely no reason why it _should_ have been taken down – then it would be better to keep the more volatile part of this equation out of situations where he might have even more reason to explode."

The dirt beneath his feet shifted warningly, and Hammer conscientiously shifted back.

"…Right," Sledge said grimly, and contacted Grit, who would understand even without a full explanation – like Sledge understood even without a full explanation - that things had gone from somewhere near the bottom of the scale of _things outsiders don't need to know_ to the very top, because who, even among other Micromasters, could they really trust? Especially with each other.

Then, without another word, the two partners set to work. And Sledge kept his gun – and his commander – in sight and easy reach the entire time.


End file.
